Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Norm Geras has another of his intriguing polls. This time he is asking for our all-time favourite rock stars. Norm leaves it to us to define the borders of the genre. Which is no little problem. Recently, Peter Guralnik was interviewed by NPR on the 50th anniversary of Elvis' first SUN single, "That's Allright, Mama." Guralnik, author of what is said to be the definitive Elvis bio and the superb Sweet Soul Music said that rock did not define a musical genre, but a marketing category.

That segmentation has been largely racial. There have been a few periods when the racial barriers have receeded--the late 1960s and early 1970s. Prince and Lenny Kravitz broke through in a latter period. But a cultural curmudgeon still might define rock as "black-influenced music made by white musicians for white consumers."